The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Stop effluents or shift, court tells Erode tanneries

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 18, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Stop effluents or shift, court tells Erode tanneries

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 17. The Madras High Court has asked over 30 tanneries in Erode district to either instal "membrane technologies" to achieve zero discharge of hazardous effluents into waterbodies or shift to Perundurai. Either way the process must be completed before August 31.

A Division Bench comprising Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice S.K. Krishnan gave the direction on Tuesday on two writ petitions seeking to close down 34 tanneries and direct authorities to take appropriate action against them.

According to the petitioners, who included the Erode-based People Health and Development Council, these tanneries were functioning without proper authorisation, and in violation of all laws.

They were letting out poisonous effluents directly into the Kalingarayan channel and the Cauvery, leading to contamination of surface and groundwater, land and air.

Rita Chandrasekharan, counsel for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, submitted that though all these tanneries had their own treatment plants, the conventional systems in the units could not meet the total dissolved solids parameter prescribed by the Board.

By implementing the membrane technologies the effluents could be completely recovered and reused, leaving a small quantity of rejects, which could be made to evaporate through suitable systems.

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